does anyone know where to buy those eastend products and spices in the south east of england area. i have never come across them. only bolsts spices are easy to get

Glad to hear that Panpot. At last cr0 has bunjara ! it certainly did a good job of hiding all these years. A big thanks to Panpot, and also the bir chef at the Ashoka for sharing all this knowledge. Respect 

that banjara is definatly what good bir's use in rogan josh and bhoona to get that amazing flavor, and produce meat chunks with a sauce so thick, it hangs onto each chunk of chicken. i find those bhoonas totally blow me away. For me, they have always been one of the wonders of bir cooking. If you have ever order a bhoona which is swimming in oil, a dark reddy brown color, with loads of tiny deep fried onions swimming about, and tastes the dogs bollocks, you know what i am on about!  ;D   

is deggi mirch just chilly powder? or is it something more than just chilly?

i love thai food, and dable a bit myself in thai cooking. i would strongly recomend trying to cook thai food. its way easier to learn than indian cuisine, and a lot more healthy, and darn tasty to boot. i know some good books if anyone is interested.

guys dont worry so much about exact measurements of things like ladels. cooking is about letting go, to some extent, of rules and measurements, and going with instinct. if you accidently add too much base, so what, just add more spice mix , or reduce it down by evaporating. who knows you might just suprise yourself with the end curry. any old fecking ladel will do ! Good cooking is about having some fun, and not getting too uptight about exact measurements of everything. cooking insights often occur through our mistakes. thats how you learn to be a better cook. bir chefs judge things through sight. they certainly don't measure anything exactly. 

interesting work you have been doing jerry. i really respect that kind of experimentation. i also constantly tweak my base and recipies to endeavor to find the perfect one. currently i feel lots of carrot, plum toms, tom puree, and onion is a real must for any base. if the base is light yello from the carrot and tumeric, it seems to work well with many curries i make. however this site has taught me there is no one method, to producing a good bir curry. its about finding your base and recipies which work for you.

Hi Jerry. no coriander, carrot, and the addition of marg. sounds like a totally new base development to me. does it have a lightly spiced soup flavor. or is it quite heavily spiced and full of flavor? i must admit i prefer the light spiced soupy bases the best. i like to do all my spicing, and flavoring, at the stage of cooking the dish. good luck with the base

how does this new base compare to the safron base? What makes this base stand out from the rest? is it a contender for best base on the site? i have not tried it yet due to work commitments. am really looking forward to trying it asap.

that bhuna sounds like it will satisfy my cravings. And i am sure you are right Panpot, that it can be adapted to madras.